"…You call this a cheat for passing the test?"
Two minutes later, Kure Ragna stared at the five test papers on the table in front of him, his expression resembling that of an old man looking at his phone on the subway.
The problem? While Sae Chabashira had indeed handed over the midterm exam papers as promised… they were just last year's midterm papers.
Ah, wasn't this just like reviewing in primary or junior high school? Teachers would dig up past papers and have students study their patterns, hoping they'd get lucky and see one or two questions repeated.
Of course, if the school decided to change the entire format, this so-called "cheat" would become completely useless.
"Don't worry," Chabashira said confidently, rummaging through her desk drawers. "Since I promised you a foolproof way to pass, it's exactly that—a guarantee."
A moment later, she pulled out two nearly identical sets of test papers, one from the top drawer and one from the bottom.
"See these?" She placed them side by side. "This is the test you'll be taking… and this one is last year's freshman midterm. Look familiar?"
"Huh… now that you mention it…" Kure Ragna tilted his head, scanning the papers.
"Wait a second!"
Yukinoshita Haruno suddenly caught on, her eyes widening.
"Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking."
Sae Chabashira smirked but quickly returned to her usual disinterested demeanor.
"Our school focuses on cultivating talent that can immediately contribute to society. We don't produce bookworms who only excel at memorization. That's why the written exams aren't as rigorous as those in regular high schools. Generally speaking, the test questions each year only change slightly—maybe one or two variations at most. You get what I mean?"
"But if that's the case, wouldn't all the exams be like this?" Haruno asked, slightly puzzled.
"All of them? Don't be ridiculous," Chabashira cut her off.
"I'm only talking about routine written exams like this one. There are also countless special exams—both big and small. Those are where you truly compete against other classes. Some of those involve written components too. But because there are so many of these special tests, regular written exams like this one barely hold any real weight."
"So that means… tutoring is still necessary, right?" Haruno inferred.
"Interpret it however you like."
Sae Chabashira didn't give a direct answer. Instead, she pulled a pack of women's cigarettes from her drawer, stood up, and stretched.
"Anyway, that's enough. You two haven't had lunch yet, right?"
"…Yeah, pretty much."
Hearing this not-so-subtle dismissal, Haruno took the hint. She collected the five exam papers, gave a polite smile, and bowed slightly.
"Thanks for your help, sensei. We won't take up any more of your time."
With that, she turned and left the office.
Kure Ragna arched a brow at Chabashira before following suit.
---
School Cafeteria
By the time they reached the cafeteria, about ten minutes had passed since the lunch bell rang. Most students had already finished eating, leaving several empty tables behind.
Which worked out perfectly for the two who had just arrived.
"…A mountain vegetable set meal? How do you even eat that?"
After grabbing a seat at a relatively clean table, Kure Ragna set down his plate—piled high with various grilled meats. But when he glanced at the plate across from him, he was met with a meal that looked… painfully plain.
Mostly bland vegetables, with a few shreds of meat here and there. For example, the so-called fried shredded pork with celery was basically just a mountain of celery with a single piece of pork.
"I don't have much of a choice… I'm broke."
Yukinoshita Haruno sighed, poking at her food with little enthusiasm.
"I spent 20,000 points all at once, and I still owe you 30,000, Kure Ragna. Even though I have a bit over 50,000 left, I need to pay you back next month, which means I'll only have 50,000 or 60,000 at most. I have to be careful with my spending."
"You could always pay in installments," Kure Ragna suggested casually. "Just return 10,000 next month, then another 10,000 the month after."
"Wait… really?" Haruno blinked in surprise.
"Yeah, I don't mind."
Kure Ragna shrugged, then casually tossed one of his two grilled chicken drumsticks onto her plate.
"Besides, I'm not exactly rich myself. I think I've got around… 5,000 points left? But tomorrow's the last day of the month, so it's whatever."
"Wait—five thousand?!"
Haruno's expression shifted. She did a quick mental calculation and suddenly realized something.
"Hold on. You're saying… you actually burned through the entire 100,000 points in a month?!"
It was, in fact, 100,000—since he had won 50,000 points from Koenji during the swimming lesson at the start of the month.
To be fair, there were plenty of classmates who had blown through 100,000 points already.
For example, the so-called doctor of the class had spent 100,000 on a laptop right at the start of the month.
Yamauchi had dropped 100,000 on a gaming console.
Even Kei Karuizawa, among the girls, had burned through her points on clothes.
But Kure Ragna?
As far as Haruno could remember, he hadn't really bought anything—aside from a pair of sunglasses, which were relatively cheap. There had been no other significant expenses.
Well… aside from food.
Because this guy shamelessly indulged in grilled meat every single day.
"No choice. It's expensive taking care of a girl," Kure Ragna said matter-of-factly.
"…You actually admitted it?" Haruno was caught off guard by his bluntness.
"What?" Kure Ragna looked confused for a second before realizing the misunderstanding. He waved a hand dismissively.
"It's not what you think. The girl I'm talking about is Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A. She's my… childhood friend."
"…That's even worse!"
Haruno facepalmed.
"You already have a girlfriend, and now you're going around spending money on girls from other classes? And you're even calling her your childhood friend? You're the definition of a scumbag!"
"Oi, quit it with that nonsense…"
As the two bickered, neither noticed the presence lurking nearby.
Behind one of the cafeteria's support pillars, a slender figure dressed in purple scrolled through the images on her camera, mumbling to herself.
"…First Karuizawa Kei, and now Yukinoshita Haruno? This guy really is popular…"
Her finger hovered over the screen, showing a freshly captured photo of Kure Ragna feeding Haruno a bite of his chicken leg.
"…If Sakayanagi sees this, she's definitely gonna lose it again."
She chuckled to herself before tucking the camera away.
"…Whatever. Not my problem. Mission complete. Time to eat—I'm starving."
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